The Health and Social Affairs Committee at the Shura Council held a meeting this morning (Monday) with a number of specialists from the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority, as part of the Committee's review of the draft Civil Defence and Ambulance Law referred by the Government to the Shura Council. The meeting examined the draft's provisions and articles and heard the Authority's views and observations on the bill.
At the outset of the meeting, the Chairman of the Health and Social Affairs Committee welcomed the specialists from the Authority, underlining the importance of involving relevant and specialised entities in the review of draft laws, given their principal role in implementing legislation and following up on the practical enforcement of its provisions. He explained that the Committee had deemed it important to hear the views of the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority, as an entity directly concerned with the draft law, and to clarify the regulatory and operational aspects relating to its provisions, with a view to producing more comprehensive and clearer legislative drafting.
The meeting saw a review of a number of articles of the draft Civil Defence and Ambulance Law, with the Committee discussing a range of provisions and articles contained in the draft with the specialists, and raising its observations and enquiries on certain regulatory and procedural aspects. The discussion also covered a number of topics related to the competencies of the entities concerned and the coordination mechanisms between them, contributing to enhancing the efficiency of the civil defence and ambulance system and raising its level of readiness and emergency response.
For their part, the specialists from the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority presented their views and observations on a number of articles of the draft law, drawing on the nature of the competencies and duties entrusted to the Authority and the practical challenges associated with their implementation, and explaining a number of the rationales underlying certain proposed provisions.
The meeting forms part of the Committee's efforts to conduct a comprehensive review of the draft law, by drawing on the views of relevant entities and discussing the various legislative, operational and technical aspects of the draft, thereby assisting the Committee in formulating its recommendations and observations in preparation for completing the review procedures in accordance with the competencies vested in the Shura Council.




The Council of Oman Law governs the procedures relating to the referral and review of draft laws. Article (49) stipulates that draft laws shall be referred by the Council of Ministers to the Shura Council, which must decide on the draft — whether by approving or amending it — within a maximum of three months from the date of referral. The draft is then referred to the State Council, which must decide on it, whether by approving or amending it, within a maximum of forty-five days from the date of its referral.
The meeting was held as part of the Health and Social Affairs Committee's second meeting between the Third and Fourth Sessions of the Tenth Term (2023–2027), chaired by His Excellency Hamed Sawakhirun, Chairman of the Committee, and attended by the honourable Committee Members, alongside the specialists from the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority.